Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Modernised History.

I have been searching for some new bedside tables for AGES. I have been lusting after some of the wonderful pieces at super cool Retro Modern,who specialise in refurbishing classic furniture pieces so you can bring some retro style into your modern life. Our house is a late 50's weather board house so I wanted this 60's build furniture so that I could keep some of the history of the original house with a 2011 twist.

Sadly, their pieces were WAY above our budget so I set about attempting to get a similar look at a half the price. Step 1 was was to try and find some classic 60's style bedside tables. The Danish style bedsides that I so desperately wanted, were wanted by everyone else too and I was outbid more than a few times on Ebay. After some exhaustive searching I found these two little beauties. Sorry the photo is not the best...these are from the website and I forgot to take a picture of them before I set about refurbishing.

So as this point I am sure you are thinking - Oooooo...kay...they look umm...old and retro! Where is the modern?

Here is where the magic happened....! Step 2 involved sanding the surfaces back, removing the handles and removing the legs and metal feet. The legs and feet were cleaned and polished. Next stop IKEA to pick up some new modern handles to bring a fresh up to date look, as always I found what I was after and picked up these GREJ handles ($10 a pair) with a brushed stainless finish. I removed the drawers, then painstakingly masked off the edges on the body as I planned to leave these with a smooth sanded lightly oiled finish and the rest of would be white. However, it was all down to how well the masking went. You all know that the paint can bleed through sometimes and I had a suspicion that this would be the case here. I was wrong and the masking was successful and I managed to get a really crisp edge. A few coats of regular satin finish oil paint and all done.

The finished product in place in our bedroom, set off rather nicely by my Orla Kiely bedspread if I do say so myself.

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About Me

I am a Scottish born, Melbourne based wannabe stationery designer and amateur photographer with many an idea just bursting to get out. Taking photos, all types of printing,stationery and all things paper are my passion.